The invention relates to a spout control system for controlling and aiming the crop discharge spout and cap of a material collecting vehicle with respect to a separate material hauling vehicle moving with the collecting vehicle.
It is difficult for the operator/driver of a material collecting vehicle, such as a forage harvester crop harvesting vehicle, to control the positioning of the crop discharge spout to achieve desired and/or even filling of a separate material hauling vehicle or crop hauling vehicle which moves along with the collecting or harvesting vehicle. This is because the operator must view spout and the hauling vehicle, thus diverting the operator's attention from other tasks which require the operator's attention.
A system for monitoring loading of products from the spout of a harvester to a separate material hauling vehicle is described in German patent No. DE 44 26 059, published Jan. 2, 1996. This system includes a camera mounted on the spout and a video monitor in the cab of the harvester which displays an image to the harvester operator. However, this system does not process any image signals and generate an automatic spout control signal as a function of a processed image. This system also requires that the harvester operator frequently view the monitor and manually adjust the aim of the spout.
Another system for monitoring loading of products from the spout of a working machine, such as a harvester or combine, to a separate material hauling vehicle is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,097,425, issued Aug. 1, 2000. This system also includes a video camera mounted on the spout and a video display in the combine which displays an image to the combine operator. However, this system also does not process any image signals and does not generate automatic spout control signals as a function of a processed image, and this system also requires that the harvester operator frequently view the video display and manually adjust the aim of the spout.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,575,316, issued in 1996, describes a system for controlling the sweeping of a spout and the pivoting of discharge pipe on the end of the spout as a function of a distance signal generated by a range finder to achieve even filling of hauling vehicle moving along with a combine. This system does not use video cameras or image processing.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,749,783, issued in 1998, describes a system for automatically filling a hauling vehicle moving along with a harvesting vehicle as a function of signals generated by a pair of distance sensors. This system also does not use video cameras or image processing.
Spout control systems for self-propelled forage harvesters pulling drawbar-attached material receiving wagons are described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,401,403 issued in 1983, U.S. Pat. No. 4,441,846 issued in 1984 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,529,348 issued in 1985, all assigned to Deere & Company. However, these systems all require an angle sensor to sense an angular position of the wagon relative to the pulling vehicle, and therefore are not suited for use when the hauling vehicle is separate from and not towed by the harvesting vehicle. These systems also does not use video cameras or image processing.